Happy Memorial Day

A shout out to all of our military personnel both past and present. We are so grateful you fight for us and keep our country and family safe.


Oh how we love the 5 minute parade in the Presidio. We get to wave our flags and even the youngest observer can hold his attention span. And we get follow the parade at the end. Happy Memorial Day!

Go Giants!

Our friends gave us tickets to the Giants vs Diamondbacks game so we loaded up and headed to the ballpark. It was a blast! We got hats when we entered the gates.


We played in the kids ballpark and rode the slides.



And we even got ice cream after the game ...




GGGGOOOOOOOOO Giants!

Just heard at our house

Sarah: I want to play with my friends.
Mommy: Mommy and Daddy are your friends.
Sarah: (Shakes her head no)
Mommy: William's a friend.
Sarah: (Shakes her head no)
Mommy: Who's William?
Sarah: (big smiles and in her best menacing whisper) "A monster!"

Ah the love of a sibling.

Exploratorium

Science is so fun with friends!

The Grand Finale

I think this picture sum it up perfectly. Sarah and Kenzie were two peas in a pod. No inhibitions here!


After the performance:



Thanks for all your hard work Jenny. We loved dance class!

Backposting complete

We had a great, long trip and didn't fall asleep at the wheel! Thank you Harry Potter #7 on CD! We made one last stop in Fresno on our way back to say hi to Renato and Cyndi. We found this gem on the mantle. Next time I see Rhino I'll have to ask him to autograph my Napoleon Dynamite t-shirt.


And with that ... we are happy to be home are excited to hear how Roger's first day of work went today. Enjoy our trip:

* Lizzy
* Meeting Kohen
* Cousins!
* Zion National Park
* Shabby Chic Bunkbeds
* Happy Anniversary Lover!
* Swimming!
* Beauty & The Beast
* Death Valley National Park
* Sequoia National Park
* Fresno

Rain Gutter Bookshelves

I have much to catch up on from our 10-day trip that included stops in Fresno, Sequoia National Park, Ridgecrest, Death Valley National Park, Las Vegas, St. George, Zion National Park, Las Vegas (again) and Fresno (again). But I couldn't wait to post about today's super easy, super fun project: Rain Gutter Bookshelves. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THEM!


Sarah's comment: "This is sooooo AMAZING!"


Will's comment: "Woooooowwww!"


We read books for more than an hour before going to bed tonight. We easily could have kept going ...


I fell in love with the bookshelves as soon as I saw it on All Things Thrifty. I used this tutorial from Raising Olives. Mine are 5 feet long (I had a Home Depot employee cut my 10-foot rain gutter in half.) There are 4 end-caps and 6 brackets between the two shelves. I washed and put on the end caps, but Rog did the hard part of leveling and screwing the shelves into the wall.

I love how they bring color to the stark white walls of our apartment. I love that they don't take up a lot of space - especially since space is a premium in their little closet-bedroom! The kids love that they can see the book covers so it's easy to pick which one they want to read. Love Love Love them!

Just in case you wanted to see the "way before" pic. This is all I could find as I glanced through my picture folders tonight:

Lizzy

On our way back to San Francisco, we stopped at Roger's sister's home in Las Vegas. Sarah and Lizzy had the best of time together playing dress up. Oh how we wished we could have taken her home with us. One day we just might!

Meeting Kohen

My baby sister Alli had a baby boy on Mother's day. He was a little more than 3 weeks early. And although he weighed 7 lbs. 3 oz. at birth, his lungs weren't completely developed so he won a room in the NICU. (Hence the tubes)


I got to visit him twice on my trip. He is such an adorable boy. He's got Alli's nose but mostly Tony's face. I just wanted to eat him up!




Congrats again Tony and Alli. Sarah and Will can't meet him when we come back next month.

Cousins!

Cassie, Jessie, Ryan - oh how we love you!






See you next time.

Zion National Park

I love Southern Utah and one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to is just an hour away from my parents' home. Rog, Sarah, Will and I along with Glenn and Amanda left super early (5:30 am) to drive into the park. We only had a couple of hours to enjoy the stunning red rocks, but oh it was worth the drive.

Sarah and Will LOVED the bus ride. The anticipation on William's face is priceless.


Troll Bridge (Sarah is infatuated with Dora ... hence the reference.)


The path to Weeping Rock.


Weeping Rock


Lots of pictures at Weeping Rock. Sadly, this is the only "hike" we went on. But it was beautiful and we loved getting "rained" on.




William enjoying the great outdoors.


London Bridges ...


These pictures don't come close to capturing the peaceful serenity of Zion. Oh how I wish we would have had a few more hours ... but alas life had to be lived and there was much to do when we got back. We love you Zion - we can't WAIT to go again!

Shabby Chic Bunkbeds

My family calls me the project girl. "Every time you come to town, you have to have a project." This time was no different. When my sister Katie was telling me about how she wanted to redo her toy room I was all excited about helping. Her idea for painting and distressing the bunk beds we grew up with sounded like a fun challenge.

I have long adored the painted furniture displayed at All Things Thrifty and I have been dying for a chance to try out the techniques. Here's my "before" picture. Unfortunately, I was almost done with the primer before I took these so you'll just have to ignore the hint of white primer on the back.


Here's my "workshop." Oh how I can't wait to have one of these ...


Detail (before I glazed the caps).


Finished pieces.


All set up. I even put the beds together all by myself. OK, Rog did help me lift the mattress to the top. But I did get all the pieces together first!


I will admit it took 3 times as long as I anticipated, but I feel like I could do it again in probably half the time. Maybe our next project will be painting the toy room. :) I totally love how the bunk beds turned out and can't wait for the sleepovers with the cousins at Aunt Katie's house!

Happy Anniversary Lover!

We spent our anniversary in St. George this year. Seeing a new nephew, getting pizza at Costco, exploring a tank parked outside Costco, and swimming with cousins.


Rog was in HEAVEN exploring this tank. His only regret was that he didn't have more time to explore, ask questions, etc. Oh how I love my man. Happy 6th Anniversary!

Swimming!

One of our favorite pastimes in St. George is going swimming with family. Sarah LOVES the pool and her cousins. What could be better?






Oh but wait, we don't have all happy water children. Check this out from William.



Before we took this video, I did have him in the pool with me - briefly. He cried the entire time and kept pointing at the kids drying off on the pool chairs. William was much happier on the sidelines wrapped up in a towel.


I did try again to get him in the pool. I used one of his favorite toys - a ball. However, this is as far as he would go. (I'm not that mean - look at the smile on his face!)


We can't wait to come back for more swimming!